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Proper 24

Of David.

1 Do not fret because of those who are evilor be envious of those who do wrong;2 for like the grass they will soon wither,like green plants they will soon die away.

3 Trust in the Lord and do good;dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.4 Take delight in the Lord,and he will give you the desires of your heart.

5 Commit your way to the Lord;trust in him and he will do this:6 He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,your vindication like the noonday sun.

7 Be still before the Lordand wait patiently for him;do not fret when people succeed in their ways,when they carry out their wicked schemes.

8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;do not fret—it leads only to evil.9 For those who are evil will be destroyed,but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.

10 A little while, and the wicked will be no more;though you look for them, they will not be found.11 But the meek will inherit the landand enjoy peace and prosperity.

12 The wicked plot against the righteousand gnash their teeth at them;13 but the Lord laughs at the wicked,for he knows their day is coming.

14 The wicked draw the swordand bend the bowto bring down the poor and needy,to slay those whose ways are upright.15 But their swords will pierce their own hearts,and their bows will be broken.

16 Better the little that the righteous havethan the wealth of many wicked;17 for the power of the wicked will be broken,but the Lord upholds the righteous.

18 The blameless spend their days under the Lord’s care,and their inheritance will endure forever.19 In times of disaster they will not wither;in days of famine they will enjoy plenty.

20 But the wicked will perish:Though the Lord’s enemies are like the flowers of the field,they will be consumed, they will go up in smoke.

21 The wicked borrow and do not repay,but the righteous give generously;22 those the Lord blesses will inherit the land,but those he curses will be destroyed.

23 The Lord makes firm the stepsof the one who delights in him;24 though he may stumble, he will not fall,for the Lord upholds him with his hand.

25 I was young and now I am old,yet I have never seen the righteous forsakenor their children begging bread.26 They are always generous and lend freely;their children will be a blessing.[b]

27 Turn from evil and do good;then you will dwell in the land forever.28 For the Lord loves the justand will not forsake his faithful ones.

Wrongdoers will be completely destroyed[c];the offspring of the wicked will perish.29 The righteous will inherit the landand dwell in it forever.

30 The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom,and their tongues speak what is just.31 The law of their God is in their hearts;their feet do not slip.

32 The wicked lie in wait for the righteous,intent on putting them to death;33 but the Lord will not leave them in the power of the wickedor let them be condemned when brought to trial.

34 Hope in the Lordand keep his way.He will exalt you to inherit the land;when the wicked are destroyed, you will see it.

35 I have seen a wicked and ruthless manflourishing like a luxuriant native tree,36 but he soon passed away and was no more;though I looked for him, he could not be found.

37 Consider the blameless, observe the upright;a future awaits those who seek peace.[d]38 But all sinners will be destroyed;there will be no future[e] for the wicked.

39 The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord;he is their stronghold in time of trouble.40 The Lord helps them and delivers them;he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,because they take refuge in him.

Footnotes:

Psalm 37:1This psalm is an acrostic poem, the stanzas of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

Psalm 37:26Or freely; / the names of their children will be used in blessings (see Gen. 48:20); or freely; / others will see that their children are blessed

Cyrus Helps the Exiles to Return

1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:

2 “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:

“‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah.3 Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them.4 And in any locality where survivors may now be living, the people are to provide them with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.’”

5 Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites—everyone whose heart God had moved—prepared to go up and build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem.6 All their neighbors assisted them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with valuable gifts, in addition to all the freewill offerings.

7 Moreover, King Cyrus brought out the articles belonging to the temple of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his god.[a]8 Cyrus king of Persia had them brought by Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah.

The Collection for the Lord’s People

16 Now about the collection for the Lord’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do.2 On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.3 Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem.4 If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me.

Personal Requests

5 After I go through Macedonia, I will come to you—for I will be going through Macedonia.6 Perhaps I will stay with you for a while, or even spend the winter, so that you can help me on my journey, wherever I go.7 For I do not want to see you now and make only a passing visit; I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits.8 But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost,9 because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me.

God’s Chosen Servant

15 Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill.16 He warned them not to tell others about him.17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

18 “Here is my servant whom I have chosen,the one I love, in whom I delight;I will put my Spirit on him,and he will proclaim justice to the nations.19 He will not quarrel or cry out;no one will hear his voice in the streets.20 A bruised reed he will not break,and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out,till he has brought justice through to victory.21 In his name the nations will put their hope.”[a]

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